


Another Great Adventure

by BastRavenshadow



Category: National Treasure (2004)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-19
Updated: 2006-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 08:22:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1641266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BastRavenshadow/pseuds/BastRavenshadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riley and Ben negotiate for their next adventure together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Great Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Ara for her invaluable help.
> 
> Written for ladybug218

 

 

Bemused, Riley Poole watched as Benjamin Gates, his best friend, excitedly flipped through the books and papers he'd brought to Riley's townhouse. While Riley knew he had a system to all the stacks and clutter littering his home, he never cleaned them because it amused him too much to watch Ben trying to wade through them and make heads or tails out of his scribbled notes in the margins and fluorescent post-it notes.

"I know it's here, I know it's here," Ben muttered, shoving books and manuscripts aside in his quest for the fax he'd put down when he walked in. Leave it to Riley's house to suck it into a black hole.

"Slow down, Ben. Geez. Speak English, tell me what's going on." Riley leaned back in his chair and waited, watching as Ben muttered and sneezed his way through the mess.

"I heard from Sadusky. He sent me... ah ha! Here it is!" Ben waved the paper around and smiled.

"Great. He sent you a piece of paper. Fantastic. Now, can I get back to work?" Riley asked, his face not giving anything away. He was secretly vastly amused. While Ben might be brilliant at history, hell, he was no slouch himself, but watching Ben trying to function with things not related to history was quite enjoyable. It was a thing to be savoured.

Ben shook his head and shoved the paper at Riley. "Read it."

"All right, all right." Riley slipped on his glasses, took the paper and read through it. He looked up once, then turned his attention back to the paper and reread it. When he was done, he tossed it on his desk. "So what?"

"So what? So what?! Riley, c'mon! This is - this is..." Ben ran his hands through his hair in agitation. "We could do it."

"We don't work for the government," Riley said with a grimace. He never really trusted the government. There were too many lies, too many cover-ups. Look at Area 51. "Besides -"

"A little research, at least, Riley. Come on. Let's give it a try," Ben coaxed.

The excitement lit up Ben's eyes and he looked all of twelve years old, Riley thought. "Ben -"

"Riley. Come on. This is... stupendous, it's completely outrageous and there's probably not a single thread of truth in any of what Sadusky sent over. But... what if there was?"

Riley laughed and got up to get a cup of coffee. "Want some coffee, Ben?" He shook his head and couldn't help but laugh at his friend's exuberance.

"Sure, if the cup is clean." Without thought, Ben ran his hand over a large stack of computer printouts, stirring up a small cloud of dust which caused him to sneeze. "You know, Riley... you really **can** afford to get someone come clean up this mess. Or try tossing some of this crap out."

"I have a system," Riley called back from the kitchen, laughing again at his friend's dismay over his housekeeping skills or lack thereof. Not to mention the three consecutive sneezes he heard coming from the other room.

Once Riley had brought two cups of the steaming brew back, he smiled at Ben smugly. "I'm just saying it's not worth going after, because I know where it is."

"You know where the Ark of the Covenant is?" Benjamin Franklin Gates gaped.

Riley chuckled. "Yeah. You know I love these moments. The moments where I know something you don't." He drew a breath inward and felt his momentary superiority fade at the look of mild annoyance on Ben's face. "It's in Ethiopia. Now can I get back to work?"

"No!" Ben looked at the paper again that Sadusky sent and frowned. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No. It's at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia." Riley watched Ben walk away with his piece of paper in hand, shaking his head, muttering to himself. Riley shrugged and got back to work, smiling because he knew he was making Ben nuts. Again.

Later that night, two half-empty pizza boxes on the coffee table and several cans of empty soda cans sitting around, they good naturedly argued over the Ark and where it was as well as the actual purpose of the sacred relic.

Riley hopped up to get them both another drink and came back, two cold cans in hand. "Next thing I know, you'll want to go look for the Holy Grail. Are you going to be Indiana Jones? Who'll I be? I'd like to be Indy's dad, then, okay? Because who's cooler than Sean Connery?" With a grin, Riley plopped back down on the couch, handing over Ben's drink. "Besides, Connery always gets the girl."

"Ha ha. Very funny. You're just a laugh a minute." Silence filled the void for a moment, the only sound was of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the ticking of the antique wind-up clock on Riley's bookshelf. "The Holy Grail, huh?" Ben rubbed his chin, thinking. "It's -"

"Look, Ben. You got wanderlust in your pants. If you're so hell-bent on going somewhere, let's go look for Atlantis. That'd be far more awesome, if you ask me." Riley took a long drink. "I don't trust the government, wanting to send us off on some treasure hunt. You know? And with our luck, we'd end up in some Turkish prison being frisked down for drugs every hour."

"Riley..." Ben sighed. He'd heard it all before. That didn't stop him, though. "Okay, what about this? If I talk to Sadusky, get us clearance for Area 51, will you go look for the Ark with me?"

"You bet." _Like that will ever happen. You may be good, Ben, but even **you** aren't that good. _

**Three Weeks Later**

"Tell me again why I agreed to this?" Riley asked, as they packed to head out on their mission to find the Ark.

"Area 51 clearance," Ben reminded him promptly, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah," Riley groused, glancing over at his best friend. "I think you're enjoying this far too much." He narrowed his eyes and stared intently at his best friend. _Yes, he's enjoying this entirely too much._

"What's not to enjoy?" Ben laughed. "Not every day I see you speechless, you know."

Riley glared more intently at him. "Well, how was I to know Sadusky was going to agree?" He finished putting his laptop in its case and looked up, smiling ruefully. "You are enjoying this, aren't you?"

"All too much, my friend," Ben said, chuckling, squeezing Riley's shoulder once. "I'm going to finish packing."

Riley laughed and got back to work. This would be a great adventure. Maybe next time, they could go look for Atlantis.

 

 

 


End file.
